Newsletter of the Midwest Model Shipwrights March 2009

March Meeting Notice

“Models of Japan” From the Rope Conference, 2008 - By Gus Agustin

We’ll call this “Gus’ Travels” as Gus Agustin shows us what remarkable work is be-ing done by fellow modelers in Japan. Get set to be enter-tained with a series of over 100 images of some of the finest ship models you’ll ever see. Fourth in our new series, Historic American Warships, fea-tures two famous examples of the John C. Butler class of Destroyer Escorts, which are the subject of a feature article starting this month, and a Ships-On-Deck presentation. Read more about them on page 5.

Our next meeting will be at 7:15 p.m. Wednesday, March 18, 2009

At the Community Presbyterian Church 407 Main Street in Mount Prospect

● ● Scuttlebutt ●●

ommodore Sid Wotman opened the meeting at 7 bells with an outstanding turnout of 28 members present.

Special guests Sam Palermo and Harry Bloom were intro-duced (see articles that follow) with a hearty welcome from all hands.

urser Ken Goetz reminded all members that the 2009

dues were now payable so, if you don’t want your mem-bership (and receipt of the Forecastle Report) to lapse, now would be a good time to send Ken a check for $20. Mark it payable to “Midwest Model Shipwrights” and mail it to Ken Goetz, 3302 Sarah St, Franklin Park, IL 60131. Thanks mates. We’ve been informed that “Ship Chandler” is having a sale during the month of March with up to a 30% discount on some items and 10% on fittings. Check it out. There being no other business or news to discuss, the meeting moved on to “Ships-on-Deck” presentations fol-lowed by Ray Oswalt’s presentation on tool sharpening.

OFFICERS Commodore (President) - Sid Wotman.……… (847) 680-1256 Flag Captain (Vice Pres) - Tim Riggs…...……..(847) 697-9552 Ship’s Purser (Treasurer) - Ken Goetz ..…….....(847) 678-4249 Ship’s Clerk (Secretary) - Jim Merritt………... (847) 888-3882 Signals Officer (Editor) - John Mitchell ……. .(847) 392-2259 M. Chief (Photographer ) - Leon Sirota ..…… ...(847) 541-6285

Tool Sharpening By Ray Oswalt

We all hung on Ray’s every word and had the added ad-vantage of an excellent handout, thus eliminating the problem of short memories (a common complaint among a group like ours). Ray says carving tools come in only four basic shapes—flat, V-shaped, U-shaped and square-sided. Flat chisels can be sharpened three different ways ... square ended sharpened on one surface, square

See Sharpening, Page 5

Ray was out in full force this evening with all his prized carving tools and tool sharpen-ing devices to share with us. While we could all envy the chis-els, gouges, strops and diamond sharpening blocks we saw, using Ray’s tips for selecting good tools and keeping them in tip-top condi-tion would put such things within the reach of all modelers.

The Forecastle Report, Mar. 2009 The Forecastle Report, Mar. 2009 -- P.2 P.2

● ● Ships on Deck ●●

See Ships-on-Deck, Page 3

Off Site Steve Wheeler has sent us some photos of his com-pleted Hunting Launch and the Punt it tows. The punt was built over a solid form with the sides and keelson pre-bent so they would keep their shape after the boat was removed (from the form). Wet-

ting the parts and hand-forming them to shape

worked fine. There was no need for steam and also, no spring back when they dried. Looks like an award candidate to us, mate. PS - the shotgun is a model of a Remington double-barrel from 1889. Beautiful decoys, too!

On Site It would be safe to say that special guest, Sam Palermo, brought something to our meeting that no club has ever seen. It was the muz-zle from a US Navy 5-in gun that once resided aboard the USS Den-nis (DE-405), and helped defend Taffy III from a superior Japanese force during the Battle Off Samar. It may

seem strange, but this arti-fact once belonged to some-one who never was a mem-ber of the Dennis’ crew. In October, 1944, Gunner’s Mate Mark Capalia was serv-ing aboard the jeep carrier USS St. Lo when it was struck by a Kamikaze and sank. Mark would spend the next 8 hours in the water before being saved by the Dennis.

Thirty years later, as Los Angeles Deputy Port Warden, Capalia would be on routine harbor patrol when he spot-ted a familiar-looking vessel. Closer inspection would re-veal that it was the Dennis, which was at Terminal Island, and set for dis-mantling. National Metal and Steel Corporation, the owners of the ves-sel, learned of Mark’s relationship to the Dennis and decided to present him with the sou-venir. Sam Palermo and his shipmates were aware of the arti-fact, and upon Mark Capalia’s death a year ago, were able to obtain the muzzle. Sam stated that it will eventu-ally be donated to a museum where it will be a permanent reminder of the sacrifices made by all Americans during World War II. The Dennis was responsible for rescuing 434 survivors of the St. Lo (CVE-63) and, for this action, shared in the Presidential Unit Citation as well as eventu-ally receiving four battle stars for WWII. Thanks Sam for sharing this with us! Bob Sykes brought in his completed “Mamoli” model of the Royal Louis (1:90) and made a very impressive pres-entation. Lots of fine attention to detail and a great rig-ging job really sets his work apart. In addition, Bob was able to add some great realism to the flags supplied with the kit and decorated the metal fittings beautifully. His hull planking looks spot on, too. This is a really large and impressive looking kit measuring 43-in. long and 33-in. high. Thanks mate, for bringing her in this night.

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Gus Agustin has been working on his 1:192 model of the St. George (1792) for some time and de-scribed to us his technique of shaping

a solid hull and then cut-ting it up to create the frame sections. Mind boggling! Current work is on the forecastle and head with attention to bending boxwood strips for the head rails. Just finished was the galley

funnel on the forecastle deck. Small parts all give big joy. Art Carlson is still hard at work on his model of LST-515 be-ing made from metal to a scale of 1:48. Due to its large size, we were treated to a view of the superstructure only. No wonder! The model is being made to operate as an R/C, so it will float. Plans were obtained from the “Ship Chandler” and are very complete. Beautiful scratch building there, Mate. Walt Philips is building the Emma C Berry lobster smack kit (Model Shipways, 1:32) but only using the plans! The

materials being used have all been scratch built to en-hance both the experience and the result. From our view, it looks like you will achieve the desired effect, mate!

Tony Sergios has built the “Midwest Products” Chesa-peake Bay Skipjack (7/16” = 1’). Hull is sheet on bulk-heads (duplicating the original) but the deck has been planked as a depar-ture from the kit. Really nice job of kit bashing, mate.

Bob Filipowski proudly stated that he has finished the copper plating on his half-hull model of the Staghound (1:96). And proud he should be, as the results are a bench mark on how to accom-plish this task. Well done, mate!

Ken Goetz has finished the bow on his USS Constitution and has installed the gun barrels (tompions were deco-rated using computer made star patterns). This just keeps get-ting better and better, mate. How will you ever

part with it? All the neat solutions you have found to solve the many difficult decorative details are a real

lesson for us all. Thanks for keeping us up to date. Doc Williams gave us a great idea on how to organ-ize our tools. He built a case out of lacewood, walnut & maple using as a pattern a jewelry box with fold out drawers. All his rigging ma-terials fit in here and are easily accessible. Ship shape! Bob Ivan finished off his “Supermarine” Spitfire and, borrow-ing on the nautical tie in, earns a place at our table. The original prototype was, in fact, designed as a float plane and success-fully competed in air races in the 30’s. This success led to it’s eventual use as a major fighter plane during WWII.

The Forecastle Report, Mar. 2009 The Forecastle Report, Mar. 2009 -- P.4 P.4

The Battle Off SamarThe Battle Off Samar By Bob FilipowskiBy Bob Filipowski

O n October 25, 1944, one of the most remarkable episodes in the history of the United States Navy occurred. An

American task group, code named Taffy III, and composed of 6 jeep carriers (CVE’s), 3 destroyers, and 4 de-stroyer escorts, was attacked by a Japa-nese force of 4 battle-ships, 7 cruisers, and 11 destroyers. One of the battleships was the pride of the Imperial Navy, the mighty 18” gun Yamato. History would later call this engagement “The Battle Off Samar.” In 1944, the Japanese were well aware of the fact that they were losing the war. If the Philippines fell, the home islands would be cut off from indispensable raw material supplies in Southeast Asia. A major last gamble was devised, called the “SHO Plan”, in which they would play their last trump card, the powerful surface units of the Imperial Navy. The force that attacked Taffy III that day was one of two pincers that was to meet at Leyte Gulf, where the American invasion was taking place. Things went badly from the start for the Japa-nese as the Southern Force was all but annihi-lated in a night action in Surigao Strait, by battle-ships, cruisers, destroyers and PT boats, under the command of Jesse B. Oldendorf, who master-fully executed the classic “Crossing–the-T” maneu-ver. The Central Force, which would eventually engage Taffy III, was mauled by US submarines and aircraft in San Bernardino Strait, and actually turned for home. Admiral Halsey, thinking that this group no longer posed a threat, pulled his powerful carriers and battleships off station, and raced north, after learn-ing that four Japanese carriers (a decoy force) were headed his way. This left the northern flank unprotected, and opened the door for Admiral Kurita’s battle group, which had reversed course again during the night.

On that fateful October morning, Machinist Mate 3rd Class Sam Palermo had no other plans other than to get a good breakfast before he relieved the watch at 08:00. As he waited in the chow line, he noticed a large body of ships approaching from the north.

Everyone thought it was Admiral Halsey’s Task Force 34, which was composed of fast battleships, cruisers and destroyers. This impressive sight gave Sam and his mates a great sense of security. The feeling of well-being was short lived as the hori-zon suddenly lit up with gun flashes, followed by screaming shells, and multi-colored splashes among the vessels of Taffy III. (These colors helped the fire control men aboard Japanese

ships mark their ship’s fall of shot during daylight, multi-ship engagements.) A moment later, general quarters sounded. The Dennis had two boiler rooms and two engine rooms. Pal-ermo, along with three other crewmen was assigned to one of the engine rooms during “GQ.” His battle station took him down into the deepest area of the ship. Sam joked that he would have been the last one out in an emergency … if he could get out. Against battleships and heavy cruisers, the likelihood of a su-per heated steam line being damaged was quite good, and would have meant almost certain death. Palermo’s primary responsibility was to monitor various redun-dant pressure sys-tems. If one was damaged, it was shut down, and the backup system was brought on line. This apparently gave him time to think. When asked if he was aware of what was going on above, his response was: “No, but I did a lot of praying!” During the battle the men below decks had to rely on their senses, and could only guess as to what was happening. Unfor-tunately, their worst fears were being real-ized as the Dennis shook and rocked with each 8” shell impact. This little DE would be hit 5 times, resulting in five dead, numerous wounded, and sub-stantial flooding. For-tunately for the Ameri-cans, the Japanese made a critical mistake by using armor piercing shells. The majority of the hits scored on Taffy III ves-sels actually passed completely through their hulls. The Dennis’ forward mount lost four men when a direct hit, punctured the turret, went through the deck, and came out the side of the ship. A second 8” projectile would enter the chief’s quarters, where a member of a damage control party would suf-fer shrapnel wounds, and become the fifth fatality.

The Battleship Tennessee, a veteran of Surigao Strait, pulls away after refueling the Dennis.

Sam Palermo’s ship, the USS Dennis DE-405. Both 5” guns would be disabled during the battle. The forward mount by shellfire, and the other would suffer a

broken breach operating spring.

The USS Heermann (foreground) and USS Dennis early in the battle making smoke. Note the bow wave on the Heermann.

8” Shell Hole

To be continued next month

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John C. Butler-class DEs

Fourth in our series on Historic American Warships fea-ture two famous Destroyer Escorts of the John C. Butler class. Destroyer es-corts were smaller than destroyers, de-signed to protect con-voys against subma-rines or aircraft. Her major weapons were two 5-inch guns that could lightly damage but not sink armored ships, and three torpedo tubes. The USS Samuel B Roberts (DE-413) was part of the Battle off Samar. The destroyer es-cort, along with a handful of destroyers and escort carriers of Taffy 3, was inadvertently left alone to fend off Japanese cruisers and battleships in the most pivotal action in the 1944 Battle of Leyte Gulf. Steaming through a gauntlet of in-coming shellfire, the Roberts scored one torpedo hit and numerous gunfire hits as she slugged it out with enemy cruisers before finally being sunk (with a loss of 89 of her crew). For this action she received the nickname “the destroyer escort that fought like a battleship”. The USS Dennis (DE-405) found herself screening the escort carriers supplying air cover for the invasion of Leyte on the 25th of October, 1944. On that day, she

joined her carriers and destroyers in making history as they fought a gallant action with the Japanese attacking force. Dennis rescued 434 survivors of the bombed St. Lo (CVE-63). For this action she shared in the Presiden-tial Unit Citation awarded to TU 77.4.3, “Taffy 3”. In addition to this honor, she received four battle stars for WWII service. After WWII, US Navy destroyer escorts were referred to as ocean escorts, and in 1975 were reclassified as Frigates (FF).

DE Class: John C. Butler

Builder: Brown Shipbuilding, Houston, TX Completed: 83 Cancelled: 4 Lost: 3 Retired: 80

General characteristics

Length: 306 feet Beam: 37 ft., 0 in. Draft: 9 ft., 4 in. Displacement: 1,350 tons Speed: 24 knots Crew: 15 officers, 183 enlisted Armament: Main Battery 2 5-in/38, 3 21-in Torpedo Tubes, AA Battery 4 (2x2) 40-mm, 10 20-mm. Propulsion: 2 boilers, 2 (WGT) Westinghouse Geared (steam) Tur-bines.

Compiled from information provided on the web site: www.wikipedia.org.

Sharpening, continued from page 1

The Nautical Research and Model Ship Society of Chi-cago had, as its February program, a round-table entitled “Plans - The Good, The Bad and The Ugly” (sort of a take-off on the Clint Eastwood cult film). The result of the discussion was an appreciation of what makes a set of plans good rather than bad or ugly. Works in progress and problem issues were also covered. The North Shore Deadeyes closed out the year 2008 with its annual Pot Luck Holiday Dinner. Despite some heavy weather, the event was described as an array of gustatory pleasure for those who braved the elements. Mark your calendars: November 7th is the date for our annual Tri-Club Symposium. We’re going back to the Lutheran Church of the Ascension, 460 Sunset Ridge Road, Northfield, IL. No info on speakers is available at this time.

ended sharpened on two surfaces, and angled ended sharpened on one cutting surface (skew). Sharpening involves a three step process: grinding/whetting, honing, and stropping. Off-the-shelf tools, even though new, will need to be sharpened first before use. The cutting angles of the edges must be brought closer to 30 degrees but not less than 25 degrees on a whetting stone (a once-in-lifetime operation). Next, honing on progressively finer grit stones achieves flat and true cutting surfaces. Lastly, the tool is stropped on a leather belt using the hard, outside face of the leather. ‘V’-tools must be treated as a combination of two single sided flat chisels united at the center by a small gouge. The resultant sharp ‘V’ on V-tools needs to be honed off to match the inside radius. Other quick tips: Pull on the chisel when stropping—never push. Try to use and de-vise fixtures or guides to keep your (sharpening) tech-nique uniform and accurate so that the cutting angles you’ve developed remain the same from touch-up to touch-up. The smaller the chisel the more difficult it is to sharpen so use magnification, if necessary, with plenty of light. Only the sharpest edges are capable of making paper thin wood chips, so let that be your goal in sharpen-ing. Ray suggests the “Exacto Woodcarving Gouge Assort-ment No. X134” as a startup tool specimen, as it contains three of the four basic shape chisels and the hardness of the metal passes the “file test”. As a close, Ray leaves us with this thought: “Best of luck and let the chips (thin ones) fly”. Thanks, Ray.

John R. Mitchell, Editor 2011 N Charter Point Dr. ● Arlington Hts., IL 60004